NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 28 July 2016

NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins work on a pair of U.S. spacesuits in the Quest airlock. Credit: NASA.

The Expedition 48 crew continued researching how living in space affects the eyes and the brain today. Two NASA astronauts also are getting ready for a mid-August spacewalk to install a new docking port.

Commander Jeff Williams and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin participated in the Fluid Shifts experiment today. They used an ultrasound scan and a tonometer to monitor the fluid pressure in an astronaut's head and eyes. Microgravity tends to shift fluids to the upper body increasing pressure in the head with some astronauts experiencing vision problems.

Williams then joined Flight Engineer Kate Rubins in the U.S. Quest airlock to resize a pair of spacesuits. The duo are scheduled for an Aug. 19 spacewalk to install an International Docking Adapter on the Harmony module.

The adapter will be removed from the SpaceX Dragon Aug. 17 during a six-hour robotic maneuver to place it in installation position. The adapters will enable future commercial crew vehicles from Boeing and SpaceX to dock to the International Space Station.

On-Orbit Status Report

Mouse Epigenetics Cage Unit Maintenance: The Mouse Cage Units containing the mice were transferred to the glove box from the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) while the crew conducted standard cleaning and maintenance on the Mouse Habitat Cage Units. The Mouse Epigenetics investigation studies altered gene expression patterns in the organs of male mice that spend one month in space, and also examines changes in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of their offspring. Results from the investigation identify genetic alterations that happen after exposure to the microgravity environment of space.

Fluid Shifts Operations: With guidance from the ground teams, crewmembers continued the first week of the Fluid Shifts experiment run by performing a Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE) test, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Tonometry exams, Cerebral Cochlear Fluid Pressure (CCFP) test and an ultrasound scan. The Fluids Shift investigation is divided into three segments: Dilution Measures, Baseline Imaging, and Baseline Imaging using the Russian Chibis Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) device. The experiment measures how much fluid shifts from the lower body to the upper body, in or out of cells and blood vessels, and determines the impact these shifts have on fluid pressure in the head, changes in vision and eye structures.

European Crew Personal Active Dosimeter (EUCPAD) Installation: The crew retrieved and inserted the ESA Active Dosimeter Mobile Units into the personal storage device. The European Crew Personal Active Dosimeter is a device worn by crew members on orbit to measure radiation exposure. This device, coupled with other dosimeters in the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus Laboratory, provides radiation dosage information that can be used to support risk assessment and dose management. The goal is to enable verification of radiation monitoring systems for future medical monitoring of crew members in space.

Maritime Awareness Radio Installation: The crew installed the Maritime Awareness Radio drawer into EXPRESS rack 3 and connected it to the Vessel ID antenna. Nearly all commercial ships on the world's oceans are being tracked and monitored using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) but the curvature of the Earth blocks the signals when ships are far from shore. The Global AIS on Space Station (GLASS) (Maritime Awareness) investigation uses a space-based AIS receiver system on ISS to acquire and disseminate ship information. During a 12-month test period, the system's ability to continuously monitor ships for use in commercial, safety and security, environmental and educational applications will be investigated.

Airway Monitoring Overview and Setup: In preparation for the European Space Agency (ESA) Airway Monitoring experiment scheduled to begin next week, the crew reviewed reference material and began setup activities in the Airlock. With dust particles in the ISS atmosphere, Airway Monitoring studies the occurrence and indicators of airway inflammation in crewmembers using ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to analyze exhaled air. This helps to highlight any health impacts and to maintain crewmember wellbeing on future human spaceflight missions, especially longer-duration missions to the Moon and Mars where crewmembers must be more self-sufficient in highlighting and avoiding such conditions.

Space Headaches: The crew completed the European Space Agency (ESA) Space Headaches questionnaire to provide information that may help in the development of methods to alleviate associated symptoms and improvement in the well-being and performance of crew members in space. Headaches during space flight can negatively affect mental and physical capacities of crew members which can influence performance during a space mission.

Dose Tracker: The crew completed entries for medication tracking on an iPad. This investigation documents the medication usage of crewmembers before and during their missions by capturing data regarding medication use during spaceflight, including side effect qualities, frequencies and severities. The data is expected to either support or counter anecdotal evidence of medication ineffectiveness during flight and unusual side effects experienced during flight. It is also expected that specific, near-real-time questioning about symptom relief and side effects will provide the data required to establish whether spaceflight-associated alterations in pharmacokinetics (PK) or pharmacodynamics (PD) is occurring during missions.

Habitability Human Factors Directed Observations: The crew recorded and submitted a walk-through video documenting observations of life onboard ISS, providing insight related to human factors and habitability. The Habitability investigation collects observations about the relationship between crew members and their environment on the ISS. Observations can help spacecraft designers understand how much habitable volume is required, and whether a mission's duration impacts how much space crew members need.

Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator 3 (MERLIN-3) Failure to Power On Fully: Yesterday, ground teams reported that the MERLIN-3 file count was not incrementing. Based on similarity to a previous anomaly ground teams attempted a reboot to recover but did not see Health & Status (H&S) indications. Ground teams then power cycled the Locker 6 power and data but MERLIN-3 did not fully power back up. Teams noted the power draw went from 5.5A to less than 0.5A. MERLIN-3 lost its cooling capacity so science was moved from MERLIN-3 to MERLIN-1. Ground teams are working additional troubleshooting plans. If MERLIN-3 cannot be recovered it may be returned on SpX-9. Additional MERLIN capacity is not required until SpX-10.

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Resize: Preparation activities for the EVA currently planned for August 18 continued today. The crew resized EMU 3003 to fit Williams and EMU 3008 was resized to fit Rubins. The crew also gathered suit components to be returned to ground and replaced a frayed Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment on one of the EVA Helmet Interchangeable Portable Lights (EHIP).

Cyclic Load Management (CLM) Not Being Applied to Shell Heaters Following Software Transition: As part of the Software Transition that occurred on Sunday July 24, an update was made for Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Day/Night Cycling and Shell Heater Cyclic Load Delta to be avoided during periods of high beta. Prior to the software transition, a delta would be applied to adjust set points which allowed the heaters to use more power when it was available to warm the shell heaters. Temperatures are currently maintaining above dew point and there is no concern that will change, but there could be an impact for extended power downs.

Remote Power Control Modules (RPCM) S11A-C and S14B-G Checkout: To restore capability to integrate S1 radiator flow path using S1-3-1 Integrated Motor Controller Assembly (IMCA) there are plans to robotically perform a swap of RPCM S11A_C with S14B_G. In order to verify that the swapped RPCMs will properly operate in the new positions, ground teams performed a checkout of the affected RPCMs that are presently in active slot positions. This activity screens for an RPCM Field Effect Transistor (FET) Controller Hybrid (FCH) failure which can occur without any external indication from the RPCM (no trip, RPCM Power-On Reset (POR), etc.), should that FCH be controlling an unused RPCM output which has occurred on orbit in the past. The checkout was completed nominally with no issues reported.

The Expedition 48 crew continued researching how living in space affects the eyes and the brain today. Two NASA astronauts also are getting ready for a mid-August spacewalk to install a new docking port.